Typically, shower floors or areas are set off or separated from surrounding floor surfaces such as bathroom floors by a curb or lip defining edges of the shower area and preventing water deposits, overflow, spray or the like on the adjacent or surrounding floor of a bathroom, for example. While of traditional construction, any such raised curb, lip, sill or the like constitutes an upstanding barrier between the shower floor and the surrounding or adjacent floor area such as the other floor surface in a bathroom.
While these barriers work well to contain water within the shower floor area, they constitute barriers to ingress and egress from the shower area, particularly for disabled persons. For example, if a person is confined to or must rely on a wheeled device for transfer into a shower area from an adjacent bathroom floor, that device must transit any upstanding lip, curb or sill. Frequently, these elements do not permit transfer of or block the wheeled device such as a chair or other support into or from a shower area.
In order to overcome this inherent difficulty, architects and builders attempt to install a shower floor with no lip, curb or sill. Typically, this is accomplished by “notching” or cutting out portions of the shower-underlying floor joists so a shower floor can be installed at a lower level, even with the surrounding floor and without an upstanding lip, curb or sill. Such a process entails the lowering of the subfloor to the notched-out joist tops and the provision of drain, tile and the like thereon. This permits a wheeled support device such as a wheelchair to be easily wheeled into and from the shower floor and to the surrounding bathroom floor.
Nevertheless, such process involves inherent disadvantages, severely limiting the possibility of such construction. First, “notching” the underlying floor joists by cutting away upper portions thereof can substantially weaken the underlying joists. Additional weight of any mud bed (mortar) further weakens such a floor.
Such a prior art construction is shown in elevational cross-section in FIG. 1 herein.
Such constructions are limited since builders use minimal dimension joists which cannot be notched without structural weakening and costly structural engineering involvement. Moreover, some builders are using engineered joists or joists of synthetic material which cannot be notched or cut out at the site.
Accordingly, it is one objective of the invention to provide apparatus and process for installing a shower floor without lip, curb, sill or other upstanding element between the shower floor and surrounding floor and without notching or weakening underlying support joists.
A further objective has been to provide a sloped water-draining shower floor extending from a surrounding floor without break or obstruction and without modifying underlying support joists.
A further objective has been to provide a sloped, water-draining shower floor extending from a surrounding floor without any raised obstruction and over supporting joists having upper edges at the same height as supporting joists underlying the surrounding floor.
A further objective has been to provide improved shower floor components and combinations thereof providing continuous smooth interfacing with surrounding floor areas without intervening lip, curb or sills and supported with standard, non-modified joists.